Pharmaceutical Liability Claims

Dennis and Kimberly Quaid Testify Against the Barring of Liability Claims

Actor Dennis Quaid and wife, Kimberly, testified on Capitol Hill this week against the barring of liability claims and to raise awareness of the dangers of negligent pharmaceutical companies. After the birth of their twins in November 2007, the Quaids noticed an irritation on both children's skin. The children were taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles due to the recommendation of their pediatrician. The twins were diagnosed with a staph infection and placed on various medications. The following day, a nurse appeared to replace the empty bags of antibiotics and to clean the IV lines.

IV lines are cleaned using 10 units of a blood thinner medication, allowing any build up in the tubes to be flushed out of the system. While this is a very common procedure, a mistake was made that day which would send the Quaid family into a nightmare situation for new parents. Instead of the 10 unit amount of blood thinner, a 10,000 unit amount was injected, causing the infants' blood to be thinned to a dangerous level. Unaware of the mistake, the Quaid couple attempted to get some sleep until around 7pm when another nurse entered the room to repeat the cleaning of the IV lines. Again, the infants were injected with a 10,000 unit dose of the blood thinner.

Under the impression that everything was alright with their children, the Quaids had gone home to rest. Kimberly Quaid woke in the middle of the night in a panic, sure that her children were in danger. The couple rushed to the hospital to discover the full scope of the damage that had been done to their children. The massive amount of blood thinner in the infants' system caused them to bleed profusely from any part of the body where they had been “poked or prodded.” The children also began to bruise and bleed internally whenever handled. The medical staff at Cedars-Sinai administered Protamine, a medication used to counteract the effects of the blood thinner. After 40 hours, the twins began to return to normal.

Soon after the medical error, the Quaids discovered that the packaging of the drug had caused confusion for medical staff members, leading to the ordeal. The blood thinner, Heparin, had packaged both the 10 unit bottle and 10,000 bottle of medication in practically identical packaging. A slight color change in the shade of blue and a slight increase in font size were the only features to identify one bottle from the other. The Quaid family also discovered that this was not the first time that the incorrect dosing of Heparin had been mistakenly administered.

Mistakes like this have cost thousands of people their lives. While federal laws tend to protect pharmaceutical companies from lawsuits, the Quaid family is working diligently to speak out for the rights of consumers. If you are concerned about the effects of Baxter Heparin and would like more information, contact the legal professionals at the Williams Kherkher law firm by calling 1-800-220-9341 today.